“Simple but stylish”. That appears to be the motto JRPG developer Gust is taking with the animated opening intro to their next PS3 title, Atelier Escha & Logy (エスカ＆ロジーのアトリエ～黄昏の空の錬金術士～), which they have streamed on the Web today.

Anime opening intros to video games is a fairly typical thing with Japanese developers, and since the rest of the game is mostly rendered in 3D visuals, obviously you won’t get any actual gameplay footage in the intro.

But what really strikes me about Atelier Escha & Logy’s opening movie is that it doesn’t even provide at least a hint of what this game is about. Yet it was mesmerising; I could not stop watching it, until the very end.

The amazing opening movie theme song you hear in the clip is entitled The Milk-Colored Ridge (ミルク色の峠), performed by the band Chirinuruwowaka who was also the performer for the theme song back in Atelier Ayesha, Stars of the Dusk (宵の星).

According to Gust, this time around they wanted the opening movie to have an air of refinement, and an atmosphere that’s drastically different from past Atelier games’, to deliver the impression that this is a very different Atelier game.

In case this is your first time reading about Atelier Escha & Logy, this is the first time in the JRPG series’ history (Escha & Logy is the 15th main instalment) that two characters are sharing the top billing in the game’s title, and also the first time that gamers can choose to play a male protagonist, Logy, on top of a female alchemist (Escha).

Depending on which protagonist you choose to play as, the gameplay will either take a “light and fluffy” approach to things similar to past Atelier games, allowing you to wander around in a light-hearted manner as the heroine Escha, or get all gung-ho and serious and play in a fashion that’s less passive and contains more action than in past games – that’s the Logy style of play.

Another key difference between Escha and Logy is the way that they perform alchemy: Escha does it the traditional way, by dropping items into a pot and brewing it all together not unlike a witch (well, a very cute one, that is; don’t take offence, Atelier fans!), whereas Logy practices alchemy more scientifically, seeking out the latest cutting-edge technology in the mystical discipline.

Atelier Escha & Logy (also known as Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi) for the PlayStation 3 comes out in Japan June 27, 2013.